Jim Roy (Day 2): It's deja vu all over again

Editor’s note: Syracuse’s Jim Roy makes his Champions Tour debut this week in the ACE Group Classic at Naples, Fla. The longtime amateur defied astronomical odds to gain his professional tour card for the 50-over circuit on his first attempt last fall. He will provide a daily account of his week through Post-Standard golf writer Chris Wagner. Here is his report from Tuesday.

By Jim Roy

I had a déjà vu moment as I pulled into the parking lot today. This whole experience is like going off to college for the first time.

It’s like my parents have dropped me off at campus and driven away. And here I am. I kind of know what I’m supposed to be doing, and I know I want to have fun. But I’m still looking to meet my roommates and make friends.

That’s why I’m looking forward to playing in the pro-am tomorrow (Wednesday). I tee off at 7:45, and I know it’s going to be cold and windy, but it will be a chance to really start to feel like I’m a part of this thing.

I’d like to shoot a good number, even though I know it doesn’t count. But I just want to get a round under my belt and know where I stand. All of this waiting is like preparing to make a public speech for two weeks. You spend a lot of time worrying about it, but once it happens, it’s no big deal.

That said, everybody has been so nice to me and I’m beginning to believe that the tentacles of Central New York – at least as far as golf is concerned – have no limits in their reach.

I was on the practice putting green today when I starting talking with one of the many manufacturers reps that are out here. I think his name was John LaPorte. He had sunglasses and he gave me a pair that are a perfect fit.

While we were talking, he tells me that he knows Jerry Steelsmith and Jack Conger real well. Jerry was my head pro at Bellevue from the time I was 14 and I’ve known Jack for a million years, since he was at Lafayette.

In the locker room, tour player Scott Hoch tells me his roommate was from Auburn, and then I ran into another guy who played golf in college with (former Post-Standard Amateur champion) Joe Russo Jr.

So, it’s really a small world out here.

I got my tee time today for Friday's first round. Being a rookie I figured it was either going to be the first or last time, and it was last. I go off at 12:05 with Joe Ozaki and Robin Freeman.

My instructor, Rick Christie, will be caddying for me in the pro-am and then my son, Kyle, will take over in the tournament rounds. Rick helped me with my game when I was at the University of South Florida – he was the women’s team coach at the time – and now he’s the golf coach at the University of Tampa, where Kyle plays.

Right now, I’m about to go to the pro-am party, where I’ll find out who I’ll be playing with tomorrow. The tent for the party is huge. Just huge. It’s really something out here.